Quiet time

Fly doesn't watch much TV. I think everyone needs a little down time, though -- time to relax and be quiet -- especially an active little boy who seldom slows down for anything.

Even book reading is a sport for Fly, as he rapidly turns pages, does motions I invented for certain books and gets up and down off my lap or off the floor to get more and more books for me to read. I have even been known to turn a somersault if the book character does. So I don't want anyone getting the idea that reading is quiet time in my house. Not at 19 months old, anyway.

But Fly will settle down for the Baby Einstein caterpillar that creeps across the screen. He loves Baby Einstein, it turns out. If he is going to watch anything, I think it's good for him to view something educational.

The Baby Einstein folks sent their latest DVD for us to review: Baby's First Sounds, for ages six months and up. It features five main sounds ("ah," "buh," "duh," "ee" and "mm") and provides examples of how to use them -- first in English, then in other languages. It's really fun and, as always, uses the Baby Einstein puppets and bright illustrations throughout the video. We also own the Baby Einstein DVD Language Nursery (which includes several foreign languages), and I think this new video is even better than that one. I would have liked to see real people making these language sounds, but Fly hears -- and sees -- JP and me talk aplenty.

(At last count, Fly says 27 words and makes six sounds that have meaning. For example, he can say dog and bark, and he can say duck and quack, and he knows the connection between those animals and the sounds they make. He can also recite the alphabet to E. I just had to brag a little!)

Baby's First Sounds is a fun video -- and a nice half-hour of rare quiet time.